The present patent application relates to joint arthroplasty, and, more particularly, to a bone rasp apparatus and method for use in joint arthroplasty.
Orthopedic procedures for the replacement of all, or a portion of, a patient's joint have been developed over the last thirty years. Currently, the procedures used to prepare the bone and seat the implants are generally referred to as open procedures. For some joint arthroplasty procedures, such as hip and knee arthroplasty procedures, the preparation of the bone includes forming a channel within the bone within which to seat a portion of the artificial joint implant. Such bones typically include a hardened outer layer of compact bone surrounding an inner layer of spongy bone and/or marrow. Typically, reamers and rasps have been used by surgeons to form and size the channel by removing marrow and spongy bone along a length of the bone sufficient to accept the portion of the implant. Surgeons must be mindful to not remove too much spongy bone, however, and form too large of a channel for the intended implant. Being overly aggressive in rasping the spongy bone, for instance, can result in the removal of the spongy bone all the way down to the compact bone, which, in turn, can result in an oversized channel.